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Summary

Annabelle Kerry was a soft rock diva often held up as the model for second chances. A teen popstar, she crashed hard, but recovered to begin her current lofty career.

Unfortunately, who Annabelle Kerry was and who she is … are no longer the same person. At some point unknown in the past several years, she was replaced by a Soul Shadow - essentially a shapeshifting clone created from her shadow. This individual has been living her life ever since.

This connection was revealed recently after Kerry assisted in holding a group of young teens for ransom. This incident occurred at the residence of Evelyn Prieto, and the actress later fingered the diva as one of the kidnappers. When police went to question Kerry, she fled the scene.

Kerry is known to have powers of surface shapechanging, incorporeality and shadow blasting.

Background

Annabelle Kerry had a charmed adolescence. Her children's choir performed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, and she caught the attention of a talent agent, who got her a spot on a wholesome television show packed with musical numbers. That audience helped to ensure the success of the girl's first CD, released when she was not quite fourteen. Kerry might not have been exceptionally talented, but her youth and charm rocketed her into stardom, where she remained for the next several years.

Then twenty hit … hard. In the intervening years, Annabelle had become something of a wild child, always chasing the latest thrill and experimenting with assorted drugs - of which alcohol was the tamest. She had an episode which almost cost her her life and did cost her the support of the media. Annabelle Kerry vanished from the music scene.

In the intervening years, Annabelle got her head back together, a degree, a job teaching art at a school, and at the age of thirty-two, a husband, advertising director Kurt Batterton. He was much to credit for the publicity behind her return to music, but the talent was all Kerry. (Whichever one of them it was at the time …)

At the age of thirty-four, Annabelle Kerry quietly released a new CD in the jazz genre. It became a sensation, pulling her back to the top. After four years, Kerry abruptly switched back to the pop music that started her career, with no real loss of fanbase. A trend running through her songs is themes of group identity and the outsider.

Kerry's recent escape from the law sent shockwaves through her fanbase. Her husband adamantly refuses to believe that she is a Shadow. If that is proved true, it leaves him with two options, neither palatable: either he married a murderess, or his wife was replaced partway during their marriage … and he noticed no change.

Logs

News

7/16/10

(Cove City Chronicle)

Young vigilantes averted an attempted murder in downtown Cove City Friday afternoon. The city bustle was interrupted when a section of the Marriott's wall shattered under an icebolt and a neohuman tumbled to the pavement, pursued by shadow-controlling shapeshifters: the individual known only as Hunter, and the woman until recently posing as pop diva Annabelle Kerry - addressed by her companion solely as Kerry.

Their intended victim, in civilian clothing at the time, was recognized on scene as British hero Glacier. Before he could defend himself, Hunter neutralized his powers and Kerry dropped him with a powerful sequence of blasts - bringing heroes Jackhammer, Felis and an unidentified sorceress to the fore.

Felis swept the visiting hero to safety, then assisted in the pitched battle. The sorceress succeeded in pinning Hunter with magic - and held it despite Kerry's attempted intervention. Jackhammer finally felled the shadowy bruiser, though Kerry vanished unharmed into the depths of the hotel.

Glacier has been identified as MI-5 agent Quentin Walker, on holiday in the area. MI-5 admits to having full knowledge of Walker's abilities. He was sanctioned to operate as a vigilante separately from his professional duties. However, his immediate superiors claim that his dual identity was a closed secret, known to only a handful. How it leaked to the shadow-manipulators is unknown.

When questioned as to how he ended up alone with the villains, Walker admitted, "Listen, I've been divorced for almost a year now, Ms. Kerry had made herself very charming and attractive, and I wasn't expecting any trouble on this side of the pond. I almost didn't notice his entrance until it was too late."

After a pause, he added, "Clearly, this is the universe's way of telling me I should become a monk."

He went on to offer his sincere thanks to his rescuers. "I'll confess, I underestimated then when I first saw them, but I don't think I'd be here if they hadn't been."

As for Hunter, British authorities have already filed an extradition request - not on the basis of the present attack, but evidence accrued over the past several months and finally attached to a face and name.

"Not fair," complained CCPD detective Lance Elliot. "I don't get a crack at him? Just one measelly little hour with thumbscrews and a … you do know I'm joking, right?"

6/16/10

(New York Times)

Five teenagers on vacation in New York City found themselves the victims of a neohuman kidnapping plot. The young people - whose names have been withheld for reasons of privacy - were held against their will at the local residence of movie actress Evelyn Prieto … until rescued by a group of young heroes, who reputedly ripped through the mansion and defeated its guardians.

The ransom demands came in the form not of money, but artifacts or articles of unknown significance. Though these missives came anonymously, the teens claimed that they were held against their will by their hostess. Ms. Prieto countered with her own claim.

"I shouldn't have to remind anyone of the shapeshifters who have already tried to subvert my family," she said - referring to the highly-publicized incident involving her daughter. The girl, who possesses shapechanging abilities of her own, made a failed attempt on the life of Supreme Court Justice Grace Sullivan … apparently under the encouragement of others of her kind. "They have not given up. I was held in my home and impersonated by these … creatures. I'm as much a victim here as my guests."

When pressed for evidence, Ms. Prieto indicated that she had caught a glimpse of the true face of one of the antagonists, pointing authorities towards a startling figure: soft rock diva Annabelle Kerry. Skeptical authorities went to speak with Ms. Kerry, but she fled the scene, lending considerable credence to the story.

"If this is true," said local detective Richard Brust, "then the real Annabelle Kerry has been dead for years, replaced by this shifter."

Ms. Kerry's husband of eleven years, Kurt Batterton, was adamant there was a misunderstanding. "I refuse to believe," he said, "that either I married a murderess - or my beautiful wife was replaced by a complete stranger and I never noticed a change."

In view of this, Liv Prieto - the daughter - became a prime suspect as an accomplice, if nothing else, but after extensive questioning, the authorities released the girl. "It helps that the involved parties were unanimous that she was a prisoner as much as anyone else," Brust observed.

Hostages and hostess also agree on the appearances of two other individuals: one, the mercenary fire controller known as Singe, and the other, an unidentified man in his early forties. Sketch artists have matched the drawing with the late Damien Hunter, a brilliant Scottish chemist whose groundbreaking career halted abruptly in a plane crash twenty-five years ago.

Not all are content with the surface appearance of the case. "Evelyn Prieto has a story for everything," said Cove City detective Lance Elliot. "She wants us to believe she somehow didn't know her daughter was being trained as an assassin? Right - but there's no proof otherwise. Now she wants us to believe that these same shapeshifters pinned her and her guests down in her swanky home? The guests can't be certain they weren't dealing with a shapeshifter, especially when these are people who - allegedly! - fool spouses and close friends. Too much coincidence … but not enough for probable cause. We'd need some evidence of continuous behavior."

The Prieto mansion sustained massive damage, with estimated repairs running to the seven figure mark. Ms. Prieto has one of the most extensive neohuman insurance policies in the New York City area - "Which in itself raises a lot of questions," Elliot commented - but she will still be spending extensively out of pocket. She is reputedly making arrangements to stay with her brother, writer/director Samuel Prieto, for the duration.

Thanks to the efforts of young neohuman heroes, pitted against canny and ruthless foes, the hostages are now free and unharmed. Investigations continue.